Yesterday I decided to start working on my garden. It was a beautiful day, sunny and bright outside and good walking weather, so my boyfriend Quentin and I decided to take a short jaunt over to Cambie and 16th to see what kind of local produce the Capers market had to offer. Unfortunately, their selection was lacking- nothing in the way of local rooter vegetables with the exception of some Yukon golds, which I’m sure were well outside the limitations of a 100-mile diet. At any rate, we picked up a bag of BC-grown carrots, some mushrooms, and a few of the Yukon gold potatoes which I’m sure are going to make a delicious something or other later on. Despite my disappointment with the selection, I did pick up a “zesty orange” chocolate bar made by Denman Island Chocolates. The bar was kind of expensive, but I think that even destitute college students need to splurge on chocolate every once in a while.
On our way back, we walked up to 25th and Main to check and see whether or not the butcher shop was open, and we struck out yet again in our attempts to find locally produced eats. On the other hand, the Main Plant Store was open and I was able to get some supplies to start my Victory Garden project. I have to say that I’m really happy that I stopped at the Main Plant Store, mostly because the guy who runs the place, Shlomo, is awesome and very knowledgeable about how to set up small container food gardens. I got a lot of really good advice about planting my newly-bought seeds, and he even went to the trouble to offer a few free planting pots that I can use once it comes time to transplant my germinated seedlings.
After getting home, I set up shop with 50 peat containers, filled them with inexpensive organic soil, and seeded each container. My garden’s current stats are: 10 Lettuce, 10 Parsley, 10 Peas, 10 Carrots, 10 Chives. In a few weeks, I’ll start planting my tomato and basil seeds, and I plan on planting onion, garlic, rosemary and lavender. I think it’s probably best to start small, until I become accustomed to growing things. This is my first time attempting to keep plants alive, after all.